Angel Tree 2017

December 26, 2017

This Angel Tree recipient took a moment to hug everyone around to say thanks for making Christmas possible for her family

“Thank you so much! God bless you!” were phrases that rang out on distribution day as hundreds of families came to pick up their Angel Tree gifts for this Christmas season. This year, The Salvation Army of Northwest Arkansas distributed 2,200 Angel Tree gifts to children and senior adults in our community. A majority of the gifts, (2,000) were designated for kids 12 and under, with 200 gifts going to senior adults at 16 senior living facilities in the area.

It truly was an incredible Angel Tree season as both people in the community gave generously along with many corporate sponsors. Tyson Foods helped make Christmas extra special this season by donating 120 bicycles and 7,680 whole chickens that were given out to families along with the gifts on distribution days, December 14 and 15.

As you expect it takes a lot of coordination to organize the Angel Tree tags. Each Angel Tree tag has multiple items including toys and clothing. Between November 27 and December 13, volunteers from the community and area businesses helped sort, tag and organize the items. In all this year, we calculated 675 volunteers worked alongside the Salvation Army team to make Christmas possible. Thank you to the many people who gave time, gifts and their support for this year’s Angel Tree project. We are especially thankful for the Walmart Stores in the area that graciously allow us to place collection bins and Angel Trees in the stores. None of this would be possible with you.